Director-General to visit Haiti

Director-General Irina Bokova is to pay an official visit to Haiti on 9-10 March, to express solidarity and discuss a recovery strategy with the country’s leaders after January’s devastating earthquake.

She will also visit projects supported by UNESCO and meet key stakeholders in education, culture and science to discuss further cooperation.

UNESCO has been working in close cooperation with the Haitian authorities, to develop emergency and medium-term projects within the coordinated United Nations response to the disaster. “I am determined that our Organization responds as fully and as swiftly as possible to the needs of the Haitian people”, said Ms Bokova. “My visit will serve to forge closer links with our partners in Haiti and signals my unwavering commitment to stand by Haiti in its time of need”.

The Director-General will join the Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, to meet partners in a number of educational and cultural initiatives being developed to assist Haiti through this recovery phase. She is due to meet with Haiti’s Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, the Minister of Education, Joël Desrosiers Jean Pierre, the Minister of Culture, Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassègue, and the Secretary-General of Haiti’s National Commission for UNESCO, Jean Coulanges.

UNESCO is working with a wide range of partners, including non-governmental organizations, to design and deliver projects that take into account the need to rebuild the rich social and cultural fabric of Haiti. Details of these initiatives can be found on UNESCO’s “Mobilizing for Haiti” page.

Following her visit to Haiti, the Director-General will pay a one-day official visit to the Dominican Republic where she will meet the country’s leaders, who have been instrumental in rallying international support and providing logistical back-up for the relief effort in Haiti.